New Maui fire report shows utility waited hours to respond to broken power line

Hawaii’s electric utility did not respond quickly to the first alerts of its power lines breaking before the deadly Maui fire last August, according to a new timeline report by the Hawaii attorney general’s office, a lapse that experts say may have contributed to the deadliest fire in U.S. history.

The report reveals that Maui Fire Department first learned a power line had fallen at 5:16 a.m. on Aug. 8, prompting fire officers to immediately alert Hawaiian Electric. But a representative of the utility did not arrive on scene until hours later that afternoon, the report stated. By that point, numerous power lines had fallen in high winds, multiple fires were burning and the utility could not confirm to firefighters that the remaining power lines had been de-energized, according to the official timeline.

The 376-page report, commissioned by Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez and released Wednesday, did not assign blame or responsibility for how the fire started and spread. But it — along with a Maui Fire Department report released earlier in the week — raise fresh questions about how Hawaiian Electric and multiple public agencies handled a fire that would ultimately wipe out Lahaina.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04/18/maui-fire-report-slow-response/

Gift link: https://wapo.st/4ddNqam